I’ve been asked for tips on surviving a military marriage. In response, I have compiled a simple how-to guide for military spouses, those just starting out and those needing a little refresher. I know I always need the reminder. • First and foremost be flexible. Understand that shifts will change, locations will change, and pretty […]

Here’s a sample of the television news lately: “Osama bin Laden is dead. For more information stay tuned. We’ll be back after these messages.” So, if we want to know what’s going on in the world, we are required to wait until after numerous commercial messages. Then we’ll get a snippet, along with a “teaser” […]

By Gary Mitchell: Religion columnist amos the churchmouse: a view from under the pew Editor’s note: Amos is a churchmouse, who types by hurling himself at the computer keyboard, but he can’t operate the capital shift keys, and he shuns punctuation marks – except hyphens and dashes. surviving the summer heat boss after a week […]

By Tom Philpott: CNJ columnist About 86,000 Vietnam War veterans, their surviving spouses or estates will be eligible for retroactive disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs — an average of 11.4 years for veterans and 9.6 years for survivors — under a draft VA rule to expand by three the number of diseases […]

By Tom Philpott The current controversy is over a provision in the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003, which was signed into law Dec. 16. For years, widows who remarried lost their DIC entitlement. But Section 101 of the new benefit package (Public Law 108-183) allows veterans’ surviving spouses who remarry at 57 or older to […]